Our partnerships
Meaningful connections across the globe
Our partnerships and collaborations are built on shared values, excellence and professionalism. We strive to make global connections and relationships that enhance our teaching, research and performance, and vitalise the student experience.
Academic Partnerships
We are known both in the UK and overseas as a source of advice and good practice for peers, providing curricula content and delivery to University College London and The Open University.
Our world-leading reputation is demonstrated and nurtured by the range and stature of the international educational partners who seek to work with us. Many partnerships include agreements through which we can support and continue the studies of student at international students with a UK setting. Others follow cultural exchange routes, making artistic work in collaboration, particularly as part of our annual CoLab Festival.
Current partners include:
Beijing Dance Academy, CalArts, Codarts Rotterdam, Drexel University, East Carolina University, Hanyang University (ERICA campus), Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Korea National University of Arts, University of Melbourne, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Taipei National University of the Arts, The University of Michigan, Tokyo University of the Arts GEIDAI, University of Redlands, University of Southern California, Victoria College of the Arts.
Alongside these, we enjoy a host of broader global relationships that promote innovation and mutual learning to advance teaching practice, educational experience, and cultural awareness among our students and partner institutions.
Research
Our staff and student researchers collaborate and partner with other academics and insitutions the world over.
As a founding partner of the UK National Institute for Dance Medicine and Science, our pioneering research in Performance Science has helped underpin the development of dance science as a recognised and impactful academic discipline. This has supported other innovative partnerships for effective training and health support with leading companies, including Mimbre, Boy Blue, Far from the Norm, and the Akram Khan Dance Company. We are also members of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science, with several members of the faculty taking active roles in IADMS leadership and membership. We hosted the IADMS annual conference in 2003 and have participated at IADMS annual conferences these last 20 years, with a consistently high number of presentations by Dance Science students and teaching faculty. We are also founding members of the Healthy Conservatoires Network.
In music, recent collaborative projects include our involvement via student researcher Uchenna Ngwe in Shared Narratives: supporting work by performing arts researchers of colour. Our Sounding Moves/Moving Sounds research group is also leading the way in how to create collaborations between music and dance.
Industry Partnerships
We have partnership relationships and close working connections to leading arts organisations, bringing together high-level training and professional collaboration to benefit our students, staff and the wider industry.
Some partnerships exist to ensure that we are accountable to our policies and ambitions, noteably our continued efforts to make proactive steps to address inequalities faced by our Black students. Part of this work includes to core partnerships with Black Lives in Music and Black Artists in Dance. The ongoing relationships work to address issues of diversity and inclusion for people of African and Caribbean heritages at the conservatoire and within the wider performing industry.
Honouring our history and location, we hold strong relationships with leading local and national organisations in the UK cultural landscape including Architectural Association Interprofessional Studio, Horniman Museum and Gardens, National Maritime Museum (Royal Museums Greenwich), Trinity College London and Southbank Centre.
Our unique position in the field of dance enables partnership with leading companies such as Studio Wayne McGregor (a relationship reinforced by Wayne’s McGregor’s position as Visiting Professor at Trinity Laban), BalletBoyz, Candoco and the Royal Ballet School, as well as the national Centres for Advanced Training. We regularly collaborate with the Cunningham Trust to stage MinEvents through our faculty member and licensed stager, Daniel Squire. Delivered in conjunction with our partner organisations: Siobhan Davies Dance and Independent Dance, the MA/MFA Creative Practice programme enables experienced practitioners to develop their artistic practice in a stimulating environment of intellectual and creative inquiry.
In Music, students gain industry experience through ‘side-by-sides’ with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Welsh National Opera amongst others, and have enjoyed a mentorship scheme with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, including live BBC Radio 3 broadcasts. Our masterclass programme enables students to work with musicians from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensemble Modern.
Other key relationships include National Opera Studio, Tomorrow’s Warriors, Julian Joseph Academy, National Youth Jazz Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and London Sinfonietta.
Musical Theatre enjoys close relationships with professionals from London’s West End and New York’s Broadway such as choreographer Xena Gusthart, LA playwright Somebody Jones, leading casting director David Grindrod and directors Khadifa Wong and Nick Evans.